The Wheel of Time

On the dirt road, marked by the hooves of the galloping horses, the riders found themselves bathed in the silvery moonlight. Lan, leading the group, was almost an invisible shadow in the cold night, riding the black stallion. Moiraine's white mare, keeping pace with the shadowy rider, cut through the darkness like a pale dart in flight. The line of riders moved steadily, as if bound together by a rope, with Lan holding one end in the hands of the Warder.

Rand rode at the end of the line, with Thom Merrilin ahead of him and the others further ahead, almost hidden by the darkness. The gleeman kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead, focusing on their destination rather than the shadows that pursued them. If Trollocs or the Fade appeared behind them, or worse, the dreaded Draghkar, it would be Rand's responsibility to sound the alarm.

Every few minutes, Rand turned his neck to look back, gripping Thunder's mane and reins. The Draghkar... Thom had said it was worse than Trollocs and Fades. His eyes searched the darkness and the shadows on the ground, shadows that could hide an army. Thunder, now free to run, sped through the night like a ghost, easily keeping up with Lan's stallion. Thunder wanted to go even faster, but Rand whispered words of restraint to hold him back.

Almost lying on Thunder's neck, Rand cast furtive glances at Bela and her rider. When he said the mare could keep up with the others, no one believed him. Yet there she was, beside Thunder, moving effortlessly. Lan didn't want Egwene among them. Rand wondered if he would slow down for her if Bela began to flag, or if he would try to leave her behind. The Aes Sedai and the Warder believed that Rand and his friends were important in some way, but despite Moiraine's words about the Pattern, he doubted Egwene was included in that importance. Bela would never fall behind; he knew her well enough to be sure that if she maintained that pace, she could run all night.

Suddenly, Lan slowed and brought the line of horses to a stop. Rand wasn't sure how long they had been riding, but a slight pain gripped his legs from clinging to the saddle. In the night ahead of them, lights flickered like a swarm of fireflies among the trees.

With a puzzled frown, Rand looked ahead, gasping in surprise. The fireflies were windows, the windows of houses covering the sides and top of a hill. It was Watch Hill. He could barely believe they had come so far, likely faster than anyone else. Following Lan's example, Rand and Thom Merrilin dismounted. Thunder stood still, head held high, as if the ride had been just a trot for him.

"As much as I want to leave all these villages behind," Thom announced, "a few hours of rest wouldn't hurt now. Surely we have enough of a lead for that, don't we?"

Rand stretched, rubbing his back. "If we're going to stop for the rest of the night at Watch Hill, we might as well go to the village."

"I could do with some singing," added Mat, tired. "And maybe a slice of hot mutton pie at the White Boar." He paused and added, "I've never been beyond Watch Hill. The White Boar doesn't compare to the Winespring Inn."

"We can't stop until we cross the Taren," Lan said sharply. "Not for more than a few minutes."

"But the horses," protested Rand. "Thunder and Bela can hold up, but the others will die if we push them any further tonight. Moiraine Sedai, surely you..."

He barely noticed she had been walking among the horses, as he hadn't been paying attention to what she was doing.

"You were right about your Bela, Rand," said Moiraine from where she stood beside the mare. "She has a good heart and is as stubborn as the rest of you Two Rivers folk. As strange as it seems, she and Thunder are the least tired of all."

The wind from the Draghkar's wings hit Rand like a slimy touch, a shuddering sensation in the damp twilight of a nightmare. He barely had time to feel fear as Thunder reared with a scream of his own, twisting desperately as if trying to shake off something that clung to him.

Somehow, Rand managed to keep hold of the reins. Using both hands and legs, he stood, jumping to avoid falling again. He drew his sword from his waist and struck at the Draghkar, the blade cutting close to the throat and down the torso. The wound wasn't deep, but it was enough to make the Draghkar release Thunder.

Chaos erupted among the group. Everyone gripped the reins against tossing heads, trying to calm the rearing horses dragging them through the turmoil. Apparently, only two of them weren't having trouble with their mounts. Moiraine remained seated in her saddle, the white mare delicately stepping away from the confusion as if nothing unusual had happened. Lan, dismounted, scanned the sky with a sword in one hand and reins in the other, the sleek black stallion standing beside him.

"Mount up!" Lan ordered tersely. Sheathing his sword, he leaped onto the stallion. "The Draghkar wouldn't have revealed itself unless it had already reported our location to the Myrddraal." Another high-pitched, shrill cry came from above, more distant, weaker, but no less terrifying. The music from Watch Hill stopped once again. "It's tracking us now, marking us for the Halfman. It can't be far."

They galloped off again, up the road and the domed hill. Dogs barked in the village; their passage didn't go entirely unnoticed. Or maybe the dogs were sniffing Trollocs, Rand thought. The barking and the village lights quickly faded behind them.

Rand was just behind Moiraine and Lan, with Thunder pushing to position himself between the Warder's black and the Aes Sedai's slender mare. Egwene and the gleeman flanked him, while Rand's friends clustered behind.

They galloped through a thin mist, no higher than the horses' knees. A cloud passed through it in two strides, and Rand blinked, wondering if he had imagined it. Surely the night was too cold for mist. Another patch of thin gray drifted past them from one side, larger than the first. It was growing, as if the mist were rising from the ground. Above them, the Draghkar screeched in fury. The mist enveloped the riders briefly and vanished, returned, and disappeared again. The cold fog left a damp chill on Rand's face and hands. Then, a light gray wall loomed ahead, and they were suddenly enveloped. Its density muffled the sound of hooves, and the cries from above seemed to come from the other side of a wall. Rand could barely make out the shapes of Egwene and Thom Merrilin, one on each side.

Rand was so startled that Thunder forced his way between Lan and Moiraine, advancing a few steps before he managed to pull the big horse to a stop and look around. Houses loomed everywhere in the mist, oddly tall to Rand's eyes. He had never seen this place before, but he had heard descriptions often. The height was due to the high foundations of red stone, necessary when the spring thaw from the Mountains of Mist made the Taren overflow. They had reached Taren Ferry.

"What is this?" Rand asked. "What is this?" Cold gray tendrils curled around the door, and he quickly stepped back from them.

"Master Hightower," Lan said. "Just the man we need. We want to cross on your ferry."

"I'll wait on the ferry," Lan said emotionlessly. "For a while." He let go of the hand that held the ferryman.

Master Hightower clutched the handful of coins to his chest and, nodding, closed the door hastily with his hip.